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Study Group 8
 Snehendu Kar







 
Snehendu Kar
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Kiyomizu Dera Shrine, Kyoto

This image of the Kiyomizu Dera Shrine in Kioto is one of the most difficult subjects I have ever shot. The Shrine on a steep hill covered with cherry blossoms is unsurpassed in its beauty. It transforms a visitor albeit temporarily; earthly interests vanish and one becomes a mystic. The shot was taken on a rainy night- when the rain stopped momentarily. The shrine was illuminated by golden flood lights- the cherry blossoms looked like clouds of golden flowers surrounding the red shrine. The climax is reached when one climbs down and sees the Shrine and its reflection on a small dark lotus pond that was placed at the foot of the hill just big enough to catch the full reflection of the Shrine. I took several shots ( using a tripod) of the lighted Shrine and its reflection separately and made the composite on Photoshop. An image can never "capture" the true majesty and beauty of the scene - but the original image is permanently engraved in my memory.

Image added: June 2010

COMMENTS:
 
Dan Costello Very nice color. I especially liked the contrast between the blue sky and the yellow rides. Also nice reflections in the water; shot at a good time of day.
Alastair Cochrane I appreciate the difficulty in getting this image; however I feel that the main interest is only in the top half -- I could happily live without the bottom.
Mark Southard As you say, this must have been a spectacular scene... very colorful and dramatic. Would like to have seen some separation between the tower and the tree. And I would have cropped the bottom third ...
Gary Davi I have been here and I remember kicking myself for not having a camera. It is surreal and mesmerizing. Great angle, especially of the Shrine, which is slightly tilted to the left and so is its reflection in the water. The more one look at this photograph, the more details appear. Fantastic Capture!!!...
Allan Fleischer A beautiful image and almost appears to have been painted rather than a photograph.
Sukumar Beautiful colors. Personally I am not sure of the vertical crop you have used, as the dark area in the center seems to divide the image into two disjoint parts; I wonder if you could have included more to the left and right. It would also have been great if you could have moved so that the branch was not cutting across the spire above the shrine.

Member Bio

Snehendu Kar

I was born in Kolkata (Calcutta), India and earned my first graduate degree from Calcutta (University Science College, M.Sc. in Psychology) and subsequently my master's and doctorate degrees (Public Health & Psychology) from UC Berkeley during the apex of student movements (1963-66), which made me feel at home away from my native city. My father was in British civil service and was transferred frequently. Consequently I studied in seven different cities before finishing my high school. I began my professional career with the Ministry of Health and Family Planning (New Delhi) and have been in university-based teaching and research in Public Health, Population Planning, and Asian American Studies since 1969 (10 years at UM, Ann Arbor and 22 years at UCLA). My professional work required frequent global travels over the last three decades. The precious gift of this nomadic life to me is my numerous encounters with diverse cultures, colors, landscapes, and peoples in countless countries.

Art, music, and literature have always been my élan vital. I had my first camera while I was still in high school; and I have continued to squeeze in moments for "snapshots" whenever possible. The result is an accumulation of snapshots from home and across the world in Himalayan proportion. Fascinating images crowd my memoryscape and I only wish I could share these with others. However, the challenges of a demanding academic life did not leave much time for my own creative expression through photography. In early 1970s I took a few courses in B&W including the Zone System and had a darkroom. Since moving to LA, my became more hectic and I had no room (literally) for a darkroom. Since then I have continued to shoot in color. I have been using the Nikon system (Fs & N90) with several Nikkor zoom lenses. Last year I bought a digital camera (Fuji Finepix 4700) and found it most convenient to experiment with image manipulation on laptop in late hours in foreign hotel rooms (no more running to & waiting for film processing). This year I bought a Nikon D100, which allows me to use all Nikkor lenses, and also a Leica Diglux1.The convenience of digital camera rekindled my interest in photography. They allow me to "take" pictures whenever it is possible and "make" pictures on Photoshop 5.5 whenever convenient. I also have a film scanner (Minolta Dimage Scanspeed), a Cannon Flatbed scanner, and Epson 2000P printer. Last year I joined a local camera club (S4C in Redondo Beach), which holds contests for its members; I have won several in-house "Awards" and "Honorable mentions". I have also one shot published in "Digital Photography" (March 2003,p.72) and another in Dec 9-15, 2002 issue of Chinese edition of Asia Week. I enjoy image enhancement for representative photos and image manipulation to synthesize "make" pictures.

I intend to spend more time for photography and have much to learn from our study group members' work and feedback. My motivation for photography is to: do that which is immensely enjoyable to me and which allows me, what Tagore once called, "the freedom to be useless" in creative work.

 

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